Generally, the present application relates to digital receipts. Specifically, the present application discloses techniques relating to coordinating the collection and distribution of digital receipts through the assistance of a digital receipt server.
Electronically based transactions are virtually ubiquitous. Customers can swipe cards in far-ranging locations—from grocery stores to airplanes. Such transactions may travel through an electronic funds transfer (“EFT”) network. The EFT network can facilitate or enable customers to transact (e.g., purchase or refund payment for goods and services) with merchants. The customer may have a card, such as a credit card, debit card, or stored value card (e.g., gift card). The customer is the authorizing party in the transaction.
An EFT network may include networks associated with merchant point-of-sale (POS) systems, which could include, for example, an ATM. The POS systems can facilitate the transfer of transaction information through the EFT network. When a customer uses a card to purchase goods or services (or to obtain a refund), the POS systems may transfer transaction information to the financial institution or intermediary associated with the card. As used herein, an acquirer may refer to a merchant and/or associated equipment used for facilitating electronic financial transactions (e.g., POS system). The acquirer can be the source of a transaction that is authorized by the customer. For example, the acquirer can be a merchant that is seeking payment for goods and/or services.
An issuer may refer to a financial institution or intermediary associated with a customer's card. The issuer may include the equipment used for facilitating electronic financial transactions. The issuer can be the party that supplies the cardholder with the ability to create a transaction. The issuer could be a financial institution or an affiliate of a financial institution. The issuer can validate the transaction against the cardholder's associated financial information.
A card-based transaction may begin at an acquirer. The transaction may then travel through one or more networks (e.g., EFT networks) to an issuer for authorization against the customer's account. The transaction data may contain information derived from the card (e.g., the account number), the acquirer (e.g., the merchant number), and the transaction value (e.g., the amount), together with other data which may be generated dynamically or added by intervening systems. The issuer can authorize or decline the transaction and generate a response message for delivery to the acquirer.
Upon completion of a transaction, a receipt may be provided. The receipt may have certain information such as the transaction amount, the date and time, the store location, and the like. Additionally, a receipt may include an itemized list showing the cost of different products or services. As the number of items associated with a transaction grows, so does the length of the receipt.
Messages in an EFT network can have a format defined by the International Organization for Standardization (“ISO”) 8583 standard. ISO 8583 defines a message format and a communication flow so that different systems can exchange transactions. For example, ATM and in-store transactions often employ ISO 8583 messaging. MasterCard® and Visa® networks are known to use ISO 8583 messaging, as do many other institutions and networks.
ISO 8583 messaging supports transactions for purchase, withdrawal, deposit, refund, reversal, balance inquiry, payments, and inter-account transfers. The ISO 8583 message format also provides for privately defined content. However, the amount of private content is limited by ISO 8583 message length allocations. Consequently, it may be difficult to adapt an ISO 8583 message to store relatively large amounts of digital receipt information. Furthermore, EFT networks may have relatively low bandwidths, such as dial-up speeds.